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Stained glass/Steps
Foiled windows use a different construction method than lead came windows. Generally the glass cutting part is the same, except foil need smaller gaps between pieces and a tighter fit. The basic steps for both are below. This seems like a lot of work. Once you have completed one window however, it does get a lot easier. If you have not made some friends at your local stained glass store, now is the time to take your pattern up and discuss it with them! 1. Draw, create, copy, enlarge, or reduce a pattern to full size. 2. Use the pattern and your taste to choose what colors and pieces of glass go with each part of the pattern. 3. You may wish to give each pattern piece a number, and place the same number on the front of your glass pieces (with a sharpie marker) after you cut them to shape. This helps you build the pattern and not skip pieces, or reassemble it should your cat decide to knock it off the table. 4. You can prepare a piece of glass to be cut by placing it over the pattern and following the lines with your cutter, assuming you can see through the glass. Otherwise, you may have to use a light table to see through the glass, or you can cut the pattern out and glue it to the top of the glass, then mark or score around it. 5. To score a piece of glass, score with light pressure (no more than 2 pounds usually) from edge to edge using your scoring tool. The glass makes a distinct sound as it is scored. Some glasses need more pressure than others. Some glasses score when they are warm. All glasses should be broken immediately after being scored so the score will not "heal". Scores should be continuous, curved or straight (no sharp turns!) and made in one pass. 6. To cut a concave curve (inside curve) it may be easier to cut a shallow curve and break it out, then score deeper into the curve, break it out, each time cutting out more of a crescent shaped piece until you reach the right depth. 7. Once scored, use the running pliers to force the score to crack. Usually this means that: with the score on the top of the glass, the pliers curve down from the center, so pressing the pliers on the score means the edges of the pliers are bending the score open. You may need to squeeze gently (no more than 5 pounds of pressure usually) on each end of the score to get the crack to start. So, at this point, you've either got a piece that won't break, a good break, or a couple pieces of glass that broke in some way you obviously didn't intend it to break. If it broke wrong, you may not have scored hard enough. Your glass may have some flaws. You may not have centered the running pliers on the score, or had them upside down. Was the glass right side up? Usually the line on the pliers is centered over the score mark. You might have scored over another score. If it won't break, you may not have scored heavy enough. Maybe the pliers are upside down. Did you center the pliers on the score? If it broke well, congratulations. If some of the break is sharp, which is usually the case, grind it a little to roughen it up and keep you from getting cut. 8. Place the piece on top of a copy of the pattern and work on your next piece. For Foil, try not to have more than 1/8 inch gap. And in general, it helps to start at a corner and work out across the pattern. 9. Foiling or fitting. For foil, once the pieces are all cut and fit fairly well, you wrap the edges in foil, then burnish them with a plastic tool or wood stick so the foil is pressed against the glass well. If you are using a frame made of straight (or curved) came, cut out at least two sides and make a corner to start building against. For came, you need to start cutting came and bending it around the pieces you have cut. You may need to cut the came at an angle to have it meet the other came as tightly as possible. 10. Once foiled or camed, you start to flux and solder the joints. For foil, it is recommended to put a drop of solder just to hold all the pieces together, then return and flux the entire line and solder it completely. 11. Once one side is finished, flip the piece and solder the other side. 12. For foil, you would wash or clean the piece and then apply patina to darken the solder lines. For Came, you would need to use DAP or a putty and a brush to push the putty into the spaces between the glass and the came. It will come through on the other side. If this is difficult, try adding a solvent like turpentine to the putty to soften it. 13. After puttying the piece, sprinkle the panel with a layer of whiting and use a stiff boar brush to work the whiting around the panel. The whiting will darken and adsorb the excess putty and oil, at the same time it darkens up the lead came lines. 14. Flip the piece and do the other side. Once you have puttied and removed the excess with whiting, allow it to sit for a day undisturbed. 15. Come back with a bamboo skewer or a stick and run it along the edges of the came, against the glass, to cut any putty off that seeps out. Do not angle the skewer so it reaches under the lead came, just stand it straight on end and remove the excess. 16. Brush the piece one more time with your whiting brush quickly and smoothly to clean it and darken it. After a few days, you can clean the window with a cleaner that has NO Ammonia (this applies to foil based windows too!).